Dovetailing the Belt and Road Initiative with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: The Connotations, Objectives and Pathways

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been put into practice for nearly six years since it was put forward in 2013. While the achievements have attracted the world’s attention, it is also necessary to think over the way of building the “Road and Belt” with a higher quality. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (hereinafter referred to as the “2030 Agenda”) is the latest result of the United Nations’ sustainable development cause and the world’s consensus, with its authority being widely recognized. There are many similarities between BRI and the 2030 Agenda. Dovetailing them can help dispelling the international community’s worries, and promoting the international position and moral advantage of participating countries and friendly groups, and help introducing BRI to the rest of the world. The important theoretical and policy issues of dovetailing BRI with the 2030 Agenda involve three aspects, i.e. connotations, objectives and pathways. The core of the dovetail lies at the understanding of the dialectical relationship between actions and goals, and between the current and the future. Its purpose is to build a common discourse system with other countries, increase the supply of quality public goods, promote the global sustainable development process and facilitate the implementation of the sustainable development goals in the developing countries along the Belt and Road. The pathway is to dovetail the ideas, fields and mechanisms of BRI with those of the 2030 Agenda.